The Molestation Of A Girl Complicates The Challenges On Mehbooba's Plate

The unrest in Kupwara after the molestation of a girl complicates the challenges on Mehbooba’s plate, says Aijaz Nazir

- Aijaz Nazir

For the first time in 30 years — it is the Modi government’s magic — the army admitted at a press conference that the killing of two youth was a mistake. An inquiry commission probed the matter and those who fired the bullets were charged. This is proof of my good intentions,” thundered Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a poll rally in Srinagar, while campaigning for Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. He was lauding his government’s efforts to rein in the security forces, particularly the army, which had killed two unarmed teenagers in central Kashmir’s Budgam district in November 2014 in a clear case of mistaken identity.

Approximately one-and-a-half years later, Modi’s words have come back to haunt him as the army is again accused of killing four unarmed civilians in north Kashmir’s Handwara district.

The trouble began on 12 April, after a local girl was allegedly molested by a soldier of the Rashtriya Rifles in Handwara town. Protesters took to the streets and started pelting stones on the forces, In the ensuing melee and the army firing, two local youth including a budding cricketer were killed. The apparently cold-blooded killing evoked widespread protests all over the Kashmir Valley, in which two more civilians lost their lives the next day, taking the toll to four in less than 24 hours. This provoked more intense protests as angry locals clashed with security forces.